But Cantor said the conversation would not center on the Democratic health care reform bill, which many Republicans believe should be scrapped.

Certainly not 80 percent of [Democrats] can agree on H.R. 3200, Cantor said.

Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted to sit down with the Virginia Republican and Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) to find out what aspects of the Democratic health care proposal the GOP lawmakers support.

I want to find out what that 80 percent is, Hoyer said, referring to earlier GOP statements that the two parties agree on about 80 percent of the reform proposals. Whatever it is, we need to find out what it is and see if we can reach agreement.

Cantor and Boustany have contended that they do not support any part of the House Democratic legislation. But they said they are willing to work with Democrats on a set of mutual health care goals.

Boustany accepted Hoyers offer to sit down in a letter Tuesday afternoon.

American families need health care reforms to lower costs and increase access to a quality doctor-patient relationship, Boustany wrote Tuesday. We can achieve many of these bipartisan reforms without disrupting existing coverage, growing the deficit or threatening jobs.